The 2010 archaeological investigations undertaken by Anne Arundel County’s Lost Towns Project was in specific response to the needs of SERC under a grant awarded them by the Maryland Heritage Areas Authority. The goals for the archaeological component of the grant were three fold: to expand Phase I level archaeological survey around the mansion ruins and the farm complex on “Java-Contee Farm”; conduct additional Phase III level excavations on the 17th century Sparrow’s Rest Home site, and offer technical and public outreach support for experiential public programming and website development.

The Phase I survey area was delineated at an on-site meeting with SERC Executive Director Tuck Hines and Educational Program Director Mark Haddon in Spring of 2010 (Figure 1.). The bounds of that survey area were expanded from what was originally contracted to reflect the potential area of impacts from proposed development schemes found in the 2008 Master Plan for the Mansion Ruins and Farm Center node (Figure 2.). The results of the Phase I survey in this area are limited to archaeological considerations and to a limited extent, landscape and view shed features that are potentially significant, and add value to the sites interpretive potential.

(Lot 112) Lead Man

A small, cast lead alloy figurine shaped like a boy was recovered from the area of the shell sheet midden. This boy is missing his hands and feet, suggesting he was originally attached to something. There is incredible detail in this cast figurine, and his little eyes, nose, mouth, and hair is still quite visible. It likely dates to the early 18th century.

(Lot 168) Pikeman and Minerva pipe

The Dutch “Pikeman and Minerva” pipe (or “Crusader and Huntress”) is named for the two figures molded on opposite sides of the bowl. Several animals (including rabbits and deer) flank the figures along with grasses and flowers. Minerva is akin to the Greek warrior goddess Athena, while the pike was a weapon first used in the ancient world and then later in the 16th and 17th century. This style of pipe is Dutch or French and dates to between 1670 and 1700. Also found at the St. John’s site in St. Mary’s City and Burle’s Town Lands in Providence (located north of modern-day Annapolis).

(Lot 180) Susquehanna point

Susquehanna broad projectile points were manufactured by Native Americans between about 2000-1000 BC in what is now the northeastern United States. They are probably atlatl dart points, but some are large enough to have been spear points. They derive their name from specimens found throughout the Susquehanna River valley in the northeastern United States, particularly Pennsylvania and New York. Points like these are often found in Maryland, and this one was found in a seventeenth century feature, located just behind the brick mansion ruins on the Java site. This point was likely carried to the site by the Sparrow family, who may have picked it up someplace on their property.

(Lot 117) Wine bottle seal (“HHM”)

Wine bottles would sometimes be adorned with stamped seals, embossed with specific initials. Early seals were often made for wealthy gentlemen or for taverns, but by the late 17th century all sorts of people had their own sealed bottles. This practice continued into the early 19th century.

(Lot 103) Two window leads (“WM”; “1671”)

Several window leads recovered around the footprint of the earthfast house demonstrate that the Sparrow house contained glazed casement windows. This was typical for houses of the period belonging to a well-to-do family like the Sparrows. Archaeologists get very excited when coming across a window lead because they were often marked with the year of manufacture and the initials of the maker. This gets us very close to having an actual date of building construction.

One of these leads was marked with a “*WM*” design, while the other was marked with the date of “1671”, also surrounded by stars. While we don’t know who “WM” was, he was likely a manufacturer in England. The “*WM*1671*” mark is fairly ubiquitous in terms of marked window leads recovered from temporally similar sites. Two identical leads were recovered from the St. John’s site and the van Sweringen site in St. Mary’s City, Maryland. In fact, the initials “WM” have been seen on leads recovered from sites ranging from Jamestown, Gloucester County, Virginia, New Jersey, Ontario, Canada, and London, England with corresponding dates ranging from 1671 to 1687. This strongly suggests these leads were manufactured in England and speak to the vast trading patterns entrenched by the late-17th century.

(Lot 88) Bone tooth comb

Common hair combs persisted throughout the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, being rectangular in shape with teeth of different sizes along two opposite sides (Hume). Here you can see the difference in the teeth sizes on each half of this bone tooth comb.

The bone used to make this style of button usually came from cattle. It was boiled, cleaned and cut into lengthwise slabs from which discs were cut in varying sizes. Many bone buttons were strictly utilitarian, such as underwear and trouser buttons. The style of this five-hole button, found at the Java site, is typical of a bone button in the eighteenth century.

(Lot 227/212) Bone Handled Iron Knife

Knives have probably the longest history of any human artifacts. This knife is made of iron, and set into a carved bone handle. The knife was found in an eighteenth century cellar/pit that was located in front of where the fireplace of the original Sparrow’s Rest house once stood.

(Lot 157) Seal top spoon handle (pre-1670)

Spoons were cherished items, and like other eating instruments, were not supplied at the table - everyone carried their own. Social status was reflected in the type of spoon carried. Knopped spoons were made by the first half of the seventeenth century, with the apostle and seal-top (as seen here) being the most popular.

(Lot 97 Olive/red glass bead

Glass beads were formed from large cylindrical tubes that were eventually cut into individual beads. This bead is made of olive-colored glass (towards the middle), with red-colored glass molded on the outside. This style of bead likely dates to the early eighteenth century.

(Lot 400) Two pronged fork

Two-pronged forks are the earliest forks seen, beginning in the late seventeenth century. They were typically made of steel, with carved bone or wood handles. This particular fork was uncovered during excavations near the brick mansion ruins at Java, and dates to approximately the early eithteenth century.

(Lot 147) Stock lock key

Keys are common artifacts on colonial sites. The stock lock key has a heart-shaped bow and a collar and was found just above the sub-floor pit in the 18th century addition. This is likely one of the door keys to the Sparrow's Rest house.

(Lot 401) Lobed Tin-glazed bowl

This tin-glazed, decorative bowl dates to late 17th century. It is adorned with a blue floral design, and would have been a large but shallow vessel.

(Lot 168) 17th C. buckle

Various types of buckles have been found on archaeological sites throughout Anne Arundel County. This is a cast copper-alloy double loop oval buckle with a molded floral decoration on the loop (only one of the loops is present). This style of buckle was made from c1550-1650.

(Lot 70) 17th C. shoe buckle ("S Cook")

By the 1690's, the loop chape buckle begins to be seen and it slowly replaces both the stud and anchor style shoe buckles. These buckles were smallest around 1660 and progressively got larger. By 1720, they could measure up to one inch. This buckle, in particular, is made of copper-alloy and is stamped with the first initial "S" followed by the last name "Cook."

(Lot 170) Silver sleeve button

It wasn't until the eighteenth century that silver buttons began to be made in a wide variety. Many of these buttons were stamped with decorative designs. This button is a good example of a sleeve button, or as we know it today, a cufflink. By the early nineteenth century, brass and gilt buttons began to replace silver buttons in many countries.

(Lot 198) Butcher-marked bones

Butcher marks are evident on these animal bones recovered from the Java site. These marks would have occurred when the animal was being butchered; preparing the meat for human consumption.

(Lot 209) Round Olive Glass Bottle Base

This is the base of a round wine bottle (late 17th-early 18th century), made of olive-colored glass. The bottom of the base has a large kick-up, and measures approximately 5mm in thickness. These bottles were commonly made in England, France, Northern Germany and Belgium and were very common in the Colonial Chesapeake.

(Lot 189) Pierced Cowrie Shell; F26 Strat A

Cowries are snail-like creatures that live in the warm tropical waters of the Indian and Pacific Oceans. For thousands of years, their shells have been used in ritual ceremonies, as currency, and as jewelry, as was the case with this artifact. Cowrie shells like these are generally associated with African slaves in the region and have been found in and around slave dwellings up and down the East Coast (including at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello). This pierced shell was found in a sub-floor pit under an addition onto the Sparrow's Rest dwelling that dates to the early 1700s. It is one of the very few artifacts from Sparrow's Rest that indicates a slave presence so early in the colonial period.

(Lot 237) Coin

This silver coin is likely Spanish in origin, although it is very worn. All that is visible today is a cross, or perhaps an "X." Artifacts like this are rarely found on colonial sites, as currency was a precious commodity.

(Lot 143) Bone pin/needle case lid

Pins and needles were a part of everyday life in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries; being so small and easily lost, these items were often carried around in cases. Here you can see the lid to a carved bone pin/needle case. This case most likely dates to eighteenth century.

(Lot 134) Tin-glazed fireplace tile

These tiles are typical in homes of the 17th and early 18th century, and they were often used to decorate the openings of fireplaces; a practice that continued throughout the 17th century. An average tin-glazed tile measures approximately 5" x 5." This tile depicts two human figures carrying a basket, and in the bottom left-hand corner the head of a snail can be seen.

(18AN282; Lot 13) Accokeek pottery

Accokeek is an Early Woodland type of pottery that is sand-tempered or crushed quartz-tempered with cord-marked exterior surfaces. This pottery is often idenfiable by the pronounced oblique cord-marking, slanting to the right from the vessel rim. It was named for Accokeek Creek in Prince George's County, a tributary of the Potomac where this type was first identified by archaeologists in the 1930s.

(Lot 115) Spoon bowl

In previous centuries, spoons were carried by almost everyone, as they were a treasured and essential part of ordinary life. This pre-1680's, fig-shaped spoon bowl is made of iron, and has been conserved in Anne Arundel County's archaeology laboratory (giving it a black-colored appearance).